Despite warnings from law enforcement officials across the country, some New Year’s revelers still fired their guns in the air, leading to at least one death in Texas and an arrest in Chattanooga.
Authorities say reports of celebratory gunfire increase around the holidays, especially New Year’s and July 4. Drinking compounds the problem.
A 2004 study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people struck by bullets shot into the air are most likely to be hit in the head, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Such incidents can prove deadly.
In Texas, 61-year-old Philippa Ashford died after being shot at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. The Harris County Sheriff’s Department said it appears she was struck by celebratory gunfire from outside her immediate neighborhood.